Meme's In Education

from Flickr account - Meme Binge

Memes have become a thing.  There's no turning back.  And in all reality, do we want to?  They are funny, they help us (ok, maybe just me) laugh at situations that maybe aren't the most wonderful, and they are easy to make (thanks to wonderful advances in technology and photo editing and random meme generating websites).  In fact, my go to Happy Birthday posting on FB generally includes a meme...because that's just funnier than "Happy Birthday!!!"  (and yes, I add 3 exclamation points because I'm that happy that my friend is another year older).

Anyway, the point of this post, is there a place in education for memes?  I mean a place besides in the teacher's lounge.  And meme's other than the ones with an owl at the beginning of the school year vs the end of the school year and the "Hey Girl" memes.  Really.  Really...do meme's have a place in education for the sake of the students?

Recently I tried them in my K-8 technology class...another tale for another time with another blogger (hoping to have a guest blogger come share about that - +Kiersten Baschnagel).  The middle school kids nailed it.  Well...let me retract that...most of the middle school kids nailed it.  Some still didn't quite understand how the humor of a meme worked.  I took it down to 5th grade and most seemed to be able to create a meme with little trouble, although the joke was a little more basic.  When I tried 4th grade, I only had a handful of kids that could come up with a joke that was applicable to the picture.

This got me thinking...what is it about memes that makes them funny?  What skill do the students need to have in order to create a quality meme?  Is this a teachable skill?  Is it a skill that they can use in other areas?  Do they need to be witty?  Do they need a dry sense of humor?  Do they need to know the background story of the picture?

I admit, I don't know or I can't articulate exactly what it is that makes memes funny, especially because when I do, I can think of other memes that don't fit that definition.

What makes memes funny?
What skill(s) do you need to create them?
And is there a place for them in education?